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Long chapter this time =)

Renee knocked and entered my room soon after Edward had fallen asleep. She looked relieved to see me awake and him sleeping.

"Oh, Bella," she sighed, as she pulled up a chair next to me. "I'm so glad to see you're okay. Honestly, when Charlie called and told me you had been in an accident, I was so worried. I had to stop myself from jumping on the next plane out here."

"Mom, you don't need to worry so much," I reasoned. "And I'm glad you didn't just drop everything and come. See, a couple of days didn't matter, did it?"

"You've always been so mature," Renee smiled proudly.

"How's Phil doing?" I asked, changing the topic. She had a tendency to get emotional when my maturity and her childishness came up.

"Oh, he's doing wonderful!" She beamed. She launched into a detailed explanation of his team, his ranking and all the games she had attended to watch him play.

"That's great, Mom," I said, happy for her. "I'm glad you're so happy with him."

"I still miss you though, Bella. Any chance you'll consider moving back in with your old mom? We do have your room still empty."

I laughed lightly. "I miss you too, mom. But I really like it here. I always thought I would hate Forks after all those summers here, but Charlie's great; and I'm having the time of my life with the Cullen's and Hale's."

She half glanced towards Edward. "Are you in love with him?"

My eyes widened. Although Renee was scatter brained and flighty, I'd forgotten that she was unusually perceptive. "Uh-" I started to say.

"Because he is definitely in love with you. I can tell."

I blushed. "Oh, he hasn't said anything yet?" She asked, looking embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I thought you two had already told each other!"

"It's okay, mom. I was planning on telling him soon anyway."

"Oh, good. I didn't want to scare you in case you hadn't realized it yet."

"What were you two talking about before I woke up?" I asked her curiously.

"Oh, I was just telling him some childhood stories of yours," she laughed and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

I turned red. "Mom!" I half shouted, but quieted down before Edward woke up. "How could you?"

"It's not like you have any embarrassing stories," she said defensively, rolling her eyes. "You were born middle aged."

I rolled my eyes too. Mom always complained that whenever all her other friends exchanged the embarrassing stories of their children, she felt left out, because she had nothing to contribute- a fact I felt grateful for, even if it meant she had nothing to say whenever those conversations started. In fact, I always wondered why parents took such pleasure in recounting stories from the early days of their children's lives. Didn't they know how torturous it was?

She yawned and stretched her arms. "I guess I should head back to your place. Charlie said I could stay there while I'm here, and right now, I'm really tired. I'll come tomorrow morning again, Bella." She kissed my forehead. "Get some rest. Good night."

Renee left, and I finally fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning to see Edward, Emmett and Rosalie peering at me. I started and Emmett and Rose instantly moved back. "You scared me," I said, putting a hand over my furiously thumping heart.

"You're funny when you sleep," Emmett chuckled. "It's such fun watching you!"

I groaned. What had I said now? I looked at Edward for support.

"Don't worry," he said, smoothing back my hair. "It was nothing bad."

"What did I say?" I asked him.

"Just… random stuff. Black cars. You mentioned your mom a bit. And…"

"You kept saying 'Edward'," Emmett said gleefully.

Oh, no. I hope I hadn't let anything slip. I looked at Rosalie, who understood what I was asking her and shook her head inconspicuously. I sighed in relief.

"You guys look awful. Please don't tell me you haven't gone home these last couple of days," I looked around and them and my thoughts were confirmed when they looked at each other guiltily. "Go home," I told them, rolling my eyes. "Alice and I can survive on our own for a few hours."

"I do want a shower…" Rosalie trailed off. "Okay, let's go! Edward, are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll join you two in a minute," He said. They left the room to give both of us some privacy.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're just trying to shoo me away," Edward said playfully, flashing me his crooked smile.

"Trust me, if I had it my way, you wouldn't be going anywhere," I told him.

"I'll be back soon," He brushed his lips against mine lightly and then left.

I was left to my own thoughts. I was pondering on how I should try to control what I said in my sleep- an almost impossible task, as it was my subconscious speaking- when there was a knock on the door, and Jasper entered.

"Hey, Bella," he drawled.

"Hey, Jasper. How's Alice doing?"

"She's much better," he grinned. "She's been having a hard time resting in bed. Says she wants to get up and do something. But she's taking a nap right now, so I thought I'd drop by and visit you."

I laughed. That sounded just like Alice. "I can't wait to move into a room with her."

Jasper's phone rang. He looked at the screen and frowned. "I should take this. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," I said dryly.

He rolled his eyes and answered the phone, getting up as he did so. "Hello?"

The door closed behind him, and I settled comfortably in my bed. A few minutes later, there was another knock on the door. I was starting to get frustrated with the constant stream of people coming and going.

"Come in!" I called out. Obviously this person wasn't a family member of one of the Cullen's or Hale's- they never waited for me to invite them in. I didn't really want anyone else to visit me, anyway. It's not like I had a lot of friends. And shouldn't they know I'm supposed to be resting?

The door opened slowly and James stood in the doorway. I felt a flash of fear and the heart-rate monitor started to pick up pace. He leered at me, probably mistaking the reason for the increase in my heart rate.

"It hasn't been easy, coming and visiting you, Isabella," he closed the door behind him.

"Jasper's going to be here any minute," I blurted out, desperate for him to go away. How had he found out my full name? It wasn't something I advertised. Not many people in school knew it.

He chuckled darkly. "Oh, I know exactly where your friends are. Little Alice in her room, all alone, Jasper on a phone call that'll last at least 10 minutes, Emmett, Rosalie and Edward-" he sneered the name "-at home… No one's going to be coming here. I think I deserve these 10 minutes, after all these days of waiting. After watching every movement of everyone around you, I finally get 10 minutes."

My heart was pounding unevenly in my chest. He could hear it clearly on the heart monitor. "Listen to your heart race," He murmured. His murmuring wasn't kind and comforting like Edward's- it was threatening and scary. "Is it for me, Bella?"

I shook my head frantically as he started to come closer. "Stay away from me," I warned. "Edward's going to kill you."

He suddenly let out an enraged roar and punched the wall. "Why, Bella?" He yelled. I cowered in my bed, hoping someone- anyone- would come and take him away. "Why are you so caught up in him? Can't you see that we're the ones who are supposed to be together?"

He stalked forward and grabbed my face roughly. He squeezed hard. "Tell me you love me Bella. I know you do. Tell me!"

The door swung open and Jasper ran in. He looked furious. "Get away from her!" he yelled, grabbing the back of James' shirt and sending him sprawling on the floor away from me. He stood between James and me, angling his body protectively. "Get out of here right now." He said calmly. "Get out right now and I won't call the hospital security."

James slowly got up from the floor, but made no motion to leave the room. He peered at me over Jasper's shoulder. "This isn't over, Isabella. I'll be back soon."

I shuddered when he said that. Jasper gave him one last push, and he left, leering menacingly at me.

I fought back a sob. James was a seriously deranged lunatic- and he was after me. I needed Edward.

"Bella?" Jasper asked uncertainly. "Don't worry about him. He's gone now. We won't let him come near you again."

Something that James said clicked in my head and I let out a gasp. "Alice!" I said frantically. "Jasper- James knows that Alice is alone! You have to go-"

"Shit!" Jasper yelled. He pulled out his phone. "Emmett?" He said into the receiver. "I need you guys to get here right now." He ran out of the room as he was talking, desperate to get to Alice.

I waited in silence for a few minutes. I was terrified. What if he got to Alice? I'd never be able to forgive myself. It might already be my fault that she was in the hospital and now if James hurt her? I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to worry. Jasper was going there. She'd be fine.

"Let's go," Jasper said roughly, breaking me out of my internal tirade. When had he gotten here? I took a closer look at him and noticed he had a split lip.

"You're lip is bleeding," My voice sounded horrified. "What did he do?"

"Threw a punch. It's okay. But Edward and the others can't get here for another hour- there's some block on the way. I know Carlisle said no moving around, but I need to take you to Alice's room so I can keep an eye on both of you."

I nodded and let him help me off the bed and into the wheelchair. As he pushed me to her room, I kept my head down and hoped Carlisle wouldn't find us. "When are we going to the double room?" I asked him. It'd be easier for us to keep James away if we were together.

"Later this afternoon."

"Was he in Alice's room?" I asked quietly. I didn't want to hear about it, but I needed to know if he had done anything.

"He was about to go in." I could tell Jasper was scowling. "I think it took him a while to find her room."

I shuddered and was thankful that Jasper got there in time. We got to her room and Jasper pushed me inside.

Alice took one look at me and frowned. "She's bruised."

"What?" I asked.

"You told me nothing happened to her," Alice pouted at Jasper.

Jasper looked closely at my face and neck, and frowned too. "You're right. I didn't notice it earlier- I didn't think he had grabbed her hard enough." Then he growled. "James is going too far."

Alice sighed. "Edward is going to be so angry. And Emmett will probably go looking for a fight."

"I won't be stopping him," Jasper muttered. "And I don't think Edward will be either."

"No!" I said loudly. "I'm perfectly fine." I tried not to wince, because now I really could feel my cheeks throbbing. "I don't want Emmett going and fighting with James."

"Fine then," Jasper shrugged. "Edward will go. Or I will."

"No. None of you will go! Remember, he's not worth it. And I don't want any of you getting hurt."

Jasper rolled his eyes but decided not to pursue the topic. Maybe he was waiting for Emmett and Edward to come so that he'd have back-up.

A nurse came after a while and started at the sight of Jasper's bleeding lip. "Oh, my," She said, reaching for a first aid kit. "How did this happen?"

"I fell," he muttered. The nurse cleaned up the blood and the noticed me.

"Ms. Swan, you're supposed to be taking bed rest," She said sternly. "And Ms. Cullen needs rest too."

I squirmed under her gaze. "She didn't want to come," Alice said for me. "But I was getting so bored, and I needed company. I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind just this one time," she said charmingly.

I tried to nod convincingly, as though that was what had happened. No need to tell her that there was a lunatic bursting into hospital rooms harassing patients.

We waited for Edward, Rosalie and Emmett in silence. Occasionally Alice and Jasper would say something to each other, but I made no effort to contribute to the conversation. My mind was on more important matters- James, and the person who was threatening me. Were they one and the same? From James' words and actions, it seemed like he was trying to make me his, rather than hurt me. So that had to mean that meant there was someone else who wanted to harm me.

I sighed out loud. Since when did life become so complicated?

I wanted James to stop going after Alice. To stop punching Jasper. I didn't want him near the others either. I considered seeking him out on my own- it was I who he wanted, anyway. Maybe that would make him stay away from everyone else.

There was nothing I could do about the mysterious person who had sent me the threatening note and had maybe crashed in to me. I would just have to wait and see what their next step would be.

A while later, the three of them rushed into the room. Edward was by my side in an instant. "Are you okay?" He asked frantically. He searched my face and growled when he noticed the bruises. "What did he do to you?" He asked his voice low. He tried to sound calm, but I could hear the anger seething behind it.

"Didn't Jasper tell you?" I looked behind him to see Jasper. Jasper just shook his head.

"Jasper said you were fine," Edward narrowed his eyes at him.

"That's because I only noticed her bruises after I talked to you," Jasper said in his defense.

"Well maybe you should have-"

"Stop it, Edward," Rosalie said angrily. "Obviously Jasper did the best he could. I'm sure it wasn't easy, watching both Bella and Alice. And maybe you haven't noticed, but he's hurt too. So lay off."

Edward sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, Jasper," he said stiffly.

"It's okay. I was frustrated too."

"Let's go kill that guy." Emmett said, pounding his fist into his hand.

Rosalie nodded in agreement. "He signed his death warrant when he grabbed your face, Bella."

"No!" Alice and I said at the same time. The others glared at us, while we glared back defiantly. I was not going to let any of them go and fight with James. Who knew what would happen? I couldn't bear to even think of Rose going up against James. Granted, he was one person, and we had four, but I still didn't want to risk it, and I was glad to know Alice was on my side.

"He's not going to be able to do anything," I tried to reason with them. "Alice and I will be sharing a room from today. And you can sit in this room with us if you think we'll be more protected."

"Of course he won't be hurting you again," Emmett said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm here now, aren't I? He's not going to do anything."

All of us rolled our eyes at him. "I'm not going to let him near you or Alice again, Bella. But this-" Edward pointed at the bruises "- he has to pay for. I'm not going to let him go that easily."

Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie nodded their heads. I looked at Alice hopelessly, wondering if there was anything I could say that would stop them. She looked just as lost as I did, which was rare for Alice. She always knew what to do.

Looking around at the determined faces of my best friends, I closed my eyes in defeat. I wasn't going to let them fight against James. This meant there was only one option left- I would have to go seek him out myself. I'd go alone, of course. I didn't want anyone else to come and end up getting hurt. If it was me he wanted, it would be me he'd get.

Gosh, isn't she stupid, planning to go off to find him on her own?

Anyway, reviewers get a sneak peak to the next chapter!